Whether you go for the $31 tickets or the special $125 VIP Suite Service package, you can get Ragtime tickets at the Ford Center box office opening Oct. 6. Tickets have already been on sale by phone via TicketMaster, (212) 307-4100.

Livent's newly constructed Ford Center for the Performing Arts is located on West 43rd St.

As for pricing, the producer of Ragtime will sell a number of $125 VIP orchestra tickets for each evening performance that will carry a variety of premium services and privileges.

The $125 "VIP Suite Service" gets the buyer a center orchestra seat, a souvenir program, private washroom facilities, complementary beverages, coat and parcel check, a light snack, and access to a special VIP suite in the theatre's basement.

Mary Bryant, spokesperson for Canada-based producer, Livent Inc., said 50 of the VIP tickets will be available at each performance. Those looking for a bargain can get the VIP Suite Service for $115 per person at Wednesday matinees. This VIP Suite Service (available Dec. 26-May 3, 1998) has already been instituted by Livent at Toronto's Pantages Theatre and other Canadian venues.

The VIP Suite Service tickets recall the private suites becoming available at many sports arenas, though no special booths for the actual seats at Livent's 42nd Street Ford Performing Arts Center are proposed. Standard ticket prices or the musical by Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens and Terrence McNally, will range $31 to $76, one dollar higher than the current standard prices for Broadway musicals. Livent spokesperson Mary Bryant, said 50 cents of the extra dollar goes to the 42nd Street Development Project and 50 cents goes "to keep the theatre up." Radio City Music Hall Instituted A Similar $1 Surcharge During The 1996-97 Season. No other Broadway theatres have yet added the surcharge as of Sept. 2

To Order VIP Or Standard Tickets To The Show, Call (212) 307-4100.

In other Ragtime news, the Los Angeles production is continuing its open run, and Colorado's Denver Center Theatre has announced a six week engagement of Ragtime for August 1998. A Livent spokesperson called the Denver announcement "premature" (Oct. 6) and said he wasn't sure what tour plans were for the show. He did say the Denver mounting would most likely not be the L.A. production, but a new company.